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Crisis in the Mediterranean: More Than 7,000 Migrants Have Been Rescued Since Monday

Migrant boat traffic in the Mediterranean rose sharply this week amid warm weather and calm seas, and officials fear numbers will increase as conditions continue to improve.
Photo via Reuters

At least 88 people have been rescued after a boat carrying migrants capsized in the Mediterranean on Thursday, the Italian coast guard said, a day after a large, overcrowded fishing boat flipped over and left five people dead.

There are no reports of any deaths so far in the Thursday incident, a spokesperson for the Italian coast guard said.

An aircraft from the European Union's Sophia mission to fight people smuggling spotted the overturned vessel and called in the coast guard to assist in the rescue.

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The Italian coast guard has coordinated the rescue of around 900 migrants in seven different operations on Thursday. That brings the total of migrants who have been rescued since Monday to more than 7,000.

Related: Why the New EU-Turkey Deal on Migrants Won't Work

On Wednesday, the Italians rescued 562 people after a wooden fishing boat that set sail from Libya packed with migrants capsized in the Mediterranean.

Dramatic photographs of the incident spread quickly on social media. The images showed a rickety fishing boat tipping over, sending hundreds of people — many clad in orange life vests — tumbling into the sea. Some then climbed onto the hull of the overturned vessel, while others attempted to swim toward the nearby Italian ship. Women and children were among those rescued, but no details of the migrants' nationalities have been given.

The Italian navy said in a statement that its patrol boat Bettica saw that the vessel was experiencing difficulties and approached it to hand out life vests, but before it could begin a rescue the boat flipped over due to the sudden movement of the passengers.

The Italian navy frigate Bergamini deployed a helicopter, and several rubber motorboats were used in the rescue operations. The Bettica also responded to a second call for help on Wednesday and in a rescue operation that pulled 108 migrants from a large rubber boat, the navy said.

Related: Two Human Smugglers Are Going to Prison Over Drowned Syrian Toddler Alan Kurdi

The survivors from Wednesday's incident are scheduled to arrive at the Sicilian port of Empedocle on Thursday. The five dead bodies are also expected to be brought back to the port. The ship was reportedly carrying a total of 650 migrants.

Migrant boat traffic in the Mediterranean rose sharply this week amid warm weather and calm seas. Italy's coast guard said 5,600 migrants were rescued on Monday and Tuesday, and officials fear numbers will increase as conditions continue to improve.

In the past two years, more than 320,000 boat migrants have arrived on Italian shores and an estimated 7,000 died in the Mediterranean as they sought to reach Europe, according to the International Organization for Migration.

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